By Gretchen Webster

A cherished Westport spot for downtown dining for many years will soon reopen with a different look and cuisine.

The Nomad restaurant is planned to open in late May or early June in the space previously occupied by Tavern on Main at 150 Main Street for more than 25 years. Tavern on Main closed in March, 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and never reopened.

The Nomad will feature “an exotic menu,” according to Patrick Jean, a general partner and manager of the restaurant. “It will feature menu items from France, Italy, Spain and Morocco,” he said.

The décor will also be very different from the New England maritime theme of Tavern on the Main. A collection of wicker containers already in the space appear to give the restaurant – still under construction – the feel of an international marketplace.

Jean has been the general manager of many restaurants in the area, including the The Pearl at Longshore, Hudson Malone, San Tropez in Fairfield, and Forza Grill in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport.

The Nomad was originally scheduled to open in early fall, 2021, according to Jean, but the same problems that have plagued other new ventures during the pandemic — including a slow permitting processes and supply chain delays — impacted them too.

The restaurant has been in the works since the fall of 2020. The Westport Zoning Board of Appeals granted a variance for maximum floor area and setbacks for the property back in January, 2021, and a zoning permit for renovations — including a wooden trellis replacing a canvas canopy on the restaurant’s terrace, a kitchen addition, an accessible restroom and wheelchair lift, and a new roof, windows and gutters — was approved in August by the Planning & Zoning Commission.

This week, in a joint session, the Architectural Review Board and Westport Historical Commission approved a new wooden sign for the building.

Tavern on the Main was first opened in 1993 by the late Kevin Brawley and Donald Saltus in a space previously occupied by the restaurant Chez Pierre. It was purchased in 2006 by Helen and Dimitri Zervos, who operated the restaurant until it closed.

The property is owned by Teuscher Family LLC.

Gretchen Webster is a freelance journalist and regular contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more at this link.